Despite the best efforts of the California Chamber of Commerce to expose anti-job legislation through their “Job Killer” reports, California legislators continue to author, debate and pass bills that have resulted in record high unemployment in the Golden State. Though legislators may believe they are reigning in large corporations, the data shows that small and medium sized businesses have borne the brunt of the effects of these efforts. According to the Chamber of Commerce, 70-80% of all jobs come from small/medium companies. In order to lower the current unemployment rate, small businesses need to be able to put as much of their money into salaries as possible, and put Californians back to work.

But as the unemployment lines grow longer, the chore of finding the best talent becomes increasingly difficult for employers that are hiring. Taking resumes via mail, email, job boards and every conceivable social… Read More

The great "moderate" signed a few more idiotic bills this week, further cementing his legacy as the worst governor in California history. His performance was so bad this week that it prompted GOP Assembly Caucus leader Sam Blakeslee, no conservative himself, to write the following memo to his caucus. All of you GOP types out there clamoring for a "moderate" solution, please tell me why again? What we get with "electibility" is ….. crap.

From: "Blakeslee, Sam"

To: "Assembly Republican Caucus" Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:57:45 -0700 Subject: Governor’s Signatures

Members: Yesterday we all witnessed the public policy disaster perpetrated by the Governor’s hand.

His decision to sign into law some of the most noxious legislative proposals brought before us this year is both disheartening and revealing.

Most of us have read in today’s papers accounts of the Governor’s shocking reversal of position on the issues about which we care most deeply: taxes, second amendment rights, family values, over-regulation, etc.

This sudden… Read More

Two weeks ago, I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas, including global warming/AB32, eminent domain, gun control, abortion, and overall philosophy about government. Because I brought a digital recorder along, Flash Report readers can enjoy these direct excerpts from the interview.

THIS IS THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE. YOU CAN READ PART TWO (ON PROPERTY RIGHTS) … Read More

Longtime Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub will soon be departing the payroll of the Bee… While he will still have columns there, he is also going to be a regular columnist for the Left Coast edition of the New York Times (well, until they figure out Dan is not a lefty) and he will work on other various projects. We wish Dan well, and hope that much of his focus remains on California policy and politics. When he does, we'll link it on our main page!… Read More

Over the past week or so Meg Whitman has been announcing various interest-group coalitions from around California supporting her campaign for Governor. Just yesterday she announced statewide law enforcement leaders.

Later this morning she will roll out her Agriculture Coaltion Leadership Team. But we have a "sneak peak" here for FlashReport readers… Agriculture Coalition Co-Chairs Jesse Alderete, President, California Farm Labor Contractors’ Alliance Mark Borba, Owner, Borba Farms… Read More

There isn’t a normal Republican out there who wouldn’t be upset and concerned by many of the pieces of legislation that Governor Schwarzenegger signed on Sunday night. Just the number of bills that he signed that went to his desk without a single Republican vote in either the Senate or Assembly should be of grave concern.

Today we’re giving a FlashReport Patriot Award to Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee who, being a normal Republican, reacted pretty strongly and directly to the Governor’s bill signings in an e-mail that he, according to Capitol Weekly, sent to his 28 Assembly Republican Colleagues. I’ll reprint the first part of the e-mail below, and provide a link to the Capitol Weekly story where you can see the entire thing.

While I would imagine it was not Blakeslee’s intention for this email to be out in the public eye, I can assure that the Assemblyman has put into writing what a great many Republicans were and are thinking about Arnold… Read More

Don’t forget to follow our Twitter feed dedicated exclusively to the AD72 special election. Allan Bartlett tweeted CRA endorsing convention results last night, and I just tweeted the latest fundraising figures for the Norby for Assembly campaign — his biggest single-day money results yet, including a maximum contribution from a pernicious special interest!… Read More

With a h/t to Joe Garofoli for the title of this post, guess who got caught AGAIN on her cell phone while driving? Check out this video from TMZ… Don’t miss Joe’s take on this. … Read More